Insider: Postseason means players, not coach, must lead Butler

Five weeks ago, after back-to-back home losses, Butler coach Chris Holtmann made a blunt plea for more leaders on the team.

So what happened in the aftermath of Saturday’s 70-64 senior day loss to Seton Hall? The players spoke among themselves about why it should not have happened. Coach, we’re leaving you out of this.

Which means Holtmann’s message has ultimately had the desired effect.

“The best teams, in a lot of ways, you’re taking a step back as a coach,” he said.

If the Bulldogs were motivated by that defeat, as some players said they were, maybe it did not represent a step back. The No. 2-seeded Dawgs will attempt to take a step forward when they open the Big East tournament Thursday night in New York against the winner of Wednesday’s Xavier/DePaul winner.

Junior forward Kelan Martin suggested the Bulldogs “actually need that loss” to refocus them. Shortcomings were reinforced at what Holtmann said was a long film session.

Andrew Chrabascz made his own assessment of the Bulldogs’ play: “Awful.” He is not eager for his senior season to end.

“We know we’re a lot better than that,” Chrabascz said. “It was important for us to address that right away.”

The Bulldogs have seemingly required the occasional jolting defeat.

Immediately after losing to Indiana State, they beat No. 23 Cincinnati and No. 9 Indiana. Six days after losing at St. John’s, they upset No. 1 Villanova. After a blowout loss at Creighton, they won four in a row. Except for a few bad moments against Providence and Seton Hall, they have played their best basketball since successive home losses to Georgetown and Creighton.

In three years under Holtmann, the Bulldogs are 22-4 after a loss, including 5-1 this season.

“Perhaps we needed that going into one-and-done tournament play,” he said. “We’ll see how we respond. I’ve really liked this group’s response every time we’ve kind of got knocked down.”

Butler’s opponent – DePaul or Xavier – will not lack urgency. No. 10 seed DePaul (9-22) will be done with its next defeat, and No. 7 seed Xavier (19-12) is no lock for the NCAA tournament. Mock brackets mostly have Xavier among the last four into the field.

The Musketeers, with an RPI of 34th, ended a six-game losing streak by winning at DePaul 79-65 Saturday. Coach Chris Mack said Xavier’s 10th-ranked strength of schedule enhances its resume. He said it “would be unprecedented for a team of our caliber” to be left out of the NCAA tournament.

“So having said that, do I want to leave it in the committee’s hands? No,” he said.

The Bulldogs are not going to be left out of the NCAA tournament but badly want a win in the Big East tournament. They are 0-3. In fact, they are 0-5 at Madison Square Garden since winning the championship of the 2006 NIT Season Tip-Off.

Holtmann said the Bulldogs are following the lead of Villanova coach Jay Wright, who directly addressed NCAA tournament failures ahead of last year’s championship run.

“I’m not sitting here saying, ‘I hope nobody writes we haven’t won a game in the Big East.’ That’s the reality,” Holtmann said. “So we’re going to own it, and do our best, and go from there.”

Call IndyStar reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

NO. 20 BUTLER vs. XAVIER or DePAUL

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Thursday, Madison Square Garden, New York.

TV: FS1.

Radio: WFNI-1070 AM and 93.5 FM.

STORYLINES

>> Butler (23-7) might secure a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament by reaching the Big East tournament championship game. The Bulldogs are 12th in RPI, and their nine Top 50 wins are one less than the national co-leaders. (Butler has four wins over Providence, Northwestern and Marquette – which are 52nd, 54th and 55th, respectively.) Butler is tied with Villanova for most Top 100 wins (17).

>> Butler was 2-0 against both Xavier and DePaul. Butler is 0-5 at Madison Square Garden since beating Gonzaga 79-71 on Nov. 24, 2006, for the championship of the NIT Season Tipoff.

>> Butler point guard Tyler Lewis is third in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio at 3.87 (120/31). Avery Woodson has shot 56 percent (18-of-32) on 3s over five games.